Help, I lost my laptop. What should I do?
- Q and A
- Edited 31 October 2024
- 1 min
- Managing and growing
- Secure business, Rules and laws
Say you return for a business trip. At the airport, you discover your laptop is missing. It contains all your customers' data. In other words, a data breach. Maria Genova, online privacy expert, tells you what to do.
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Customer data is privacy-sensitive information. As soon as this onformation is no longer secure, for example because you lost your laptop, you have a data breach."According to the GDPR privacy law, in such a case, you have to notify the Dutch Data Protection . If you fail to do so, you risk a fine that can amount to a maximum of €820,000."
Unpleasant consequences
"A data breach may have unpleasant consequences for clients. So you should always inform your clients and warn them about the risks. Fraudsters may send them phishing emails or call them with a fake story. Once they get the data they want, they can plunder bank accounts", says Genova.
Prevent data breaches
To prevent a future data breach, you can (in Dutch) your laptop's harddisk. Make sure your laptop and phone passwords are strong. That will make it harder for cyber criminals to access your network. If someone gets their hands on your lost or stolen laptop, a strong password and encrypted hard disk may still stop them from getting to your data. Finally, Genova advises to regularly delete information you no longer use. "And if you do decide to save it, store it on an external hard drive that is not connected to the internet."